Grant has to last twice as long

SCOTT TRUDEAU/Penticton Herald Thursday, April 15, 2010
Although the provincial government has reinstated its annual facilities grant (AFG) to the Okanagan Skaha School District, trustees will have less money to work with and are not sure how the funds can be used. Ron Shongrunden, the district‘s secretary-treasurer, said the $1.2-million grant had been removed by the province and was not available last year. He said the district will receive about $1.2 million for this year and the next, meaning school trustees will have to stretch those dollars over two years instead of one. Trustees also have no idea how the money can be applied, said Shongrunden.

Formerly, the facilities grant could go toward funding capital projects, such as replacing a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, a school roof, windows or a playground. Now, it appears the government will have input on how and where funds are routed. “Under the new rules, they‘re saying they‘re going to be more restrictive in how we use it,” he said. Shongrunden noted the district might need the government‘s approval before it can allocate the grant money, and that the funds may end up going toward capital expenditures rather than those classified as operating expenses. The district was fortunate there were no capital projects last year, he said. Had there been, the money would have been pulled from another area. This year, Shongrunden expects there will be some roofing projects to complete, but said “we haven‘t actually formalized a plan.” The government will also be labelling some projects as “minor capital” ones under the new system. Under this system, a project will be designated as a facilities grant project or a capital or minor capital project.

“We‘re going to have a little bit of a feeling-out process here to determine which one you apply which project to,” said Shongrunden. “If we do a roof, does it come out of AFG, minor capital or capital? “It‘s all new, so we‘re probably going to have to go a little bit and discuss it with the ministry (of education) to see what qualifies.” Shongrunden said the board will aim to spend the annual facilities grant in areas that will help offset its operating budget, which is facing a $1.5-million deficit for 2010-2011. Trustees are expected to pass the preliminary budget at a special board meeting on May 3.